French Literature Reviews - 2026
V. Karampagia, L’Écriture à l’épreuve de la danse contemporaine, Gherasim Luca, Dimitris Dimitriadis et l’approche du performatif
Comparative and World Literature
Valentina Karampagia, L’Écriture à l’épreuve de la danse contemporaine, Gherasim Luca, Dimitris Dimitriadis et l’approche du performatif,
Honoré Champion, collection "Bibliothèque de littérature générale et comparée", 2016. EAN13: 9782745328922.
- 346 p.
- 60 €
This study explores the relationship between contemporary dance and the works of Gherasim Luca, a Romanian poet who wrote in French, and Dimitris Dimitriadis, a Greek playwright and poet. The fact that the works of both authors have been translated into movement raises questions about the corporeality that underpins writing directly on the page. The research is guided by the effort to answer what makes writing dance-like, thereby explaining the emergence of gesture. The concept of the performative, hovering between the philosophy of language and aesthetics, proved particularly well-suited for this reflection on the embodied dimension of writing. Suggesting that there is no gap between language and action, the performative enables the analysis of these hybrid writings and helps capture their persistent drive to treat words as catalysts for things to happen. The performative is examined through the lens of contemporary dance theory and practice, as well as the philosophies of J. L. Austin, Jacques Derrida, and Giorgio Agamben. Here, it is interwoven with the notions of repetition and display, acting as parallel tools shared by both danced gestures and words.
Valentina Karampagia holds a PhD in Comparative Literature. She defended her dissertation under the supervision of Professor Jean Bessière at the University of Paris III in June 2013. She studied Greek language and literature at the University of Athens, her native city.
The relationship between literature and performance has long invited critical inquiry, particularly in comparative literature where the boundaries between genres and artistic mediums frequently intersect. The study of hybrid writings that engage with bodily movement aligns with broader scholarly conversations regarding textuality and embodiment in twentieth-century literature. By examining how literary texts translate into movement, this work intersects with traditions of comparative poetics and performance theory, situating itself within ongoing discussions on the dynamic interplay between the written sign and physical action in modern artistic production.
Readers interested in contemporary approaches to poetics, comparative literature, and the intersections between theatricality and textuality may find this volume relevant to their inquiries. The analysis draws upon established theoretical frameworks concerning the performative, engaging with philosophical traditions that examine the relationship between language and action without presupposing direct interventions or applications beyond the scope of textual and performance analysis outlined in the study.